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‘The Walking Dead’ Companion Series ‘Cobalt’ Picked Up Two Seasons

We’ve got some more exciting Cobalt news heading in! As of just a couple of days ago, AMC has decided to take a leap and give the new companion series to The Walking Deadtwo seasons. Considering the huge success of The Walking Dead, I’m sure this major step forward will not be in vain.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, AMC has announced that the structure of the first season will closely resemble TWD’s first season, featuring just six episodes set to air in “late summer”. Season 2 is preemptively set for 2016.

We’ve already been given most of the major casting announcements: Cliff Curtis (Gang Related) stars as Sean Cabrera, a divorced teacher with a son, while Kim Dickens (Gone Girl) will be playing Nancy, a guidance counselor at the same school. The younger cast features Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (The 100) as Nancy’s children Nick and Ashley.

Creator of The Walking Dead comics Robert Kirkman co-wrote the pilot with Dave Erickson, and will additionally be co-executive producing the show alongside Greg Nicotero, Gale Anne Hurd, and Dave Alpert (current TWD producers). Adam Davidson and Dave Erickson serve as director of the pilot and showrunner, respectively.

While most of this business/logistical stuff seems to have been taken care of and released, AMC has yet to release any significant details pertaining to the plot of Cobalt. All we know for sure is that the companion series will take place in a time period before TWD and feature the build-up and outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. AMC confirmed on Monday that the show will take place in Los Angeles, relatively far away from Atlanta.

Robert Kirkman talked about the two-season announcement: “We feel empowered by this two-season commitment, a serious show of faith from our network partner AMC. I personally take it as a sign that they believe, like we do, that we accomplished our goal of developing something original that can pay tribute to the original show and expand the world I created, while at the same time having something new to say with this story. I’m very grateful that we now have the opportunity to tell this amazing story and show the fans that we really haven’t scratched the surface yet when it comes to The Walking Dead.”

If there’s anything I’m looking forward from Cobalt, it’d definitely have to be a change in scenery. While L.A. is a good place to start, I’m hoping Kirkman and the developers consider showing us an international scope of the zombie apocalypse. Especially exciting is the timeline: we’ll be seeing the outbreak at the onset and how it grew into calamity (actually setting the show and seeing the development occur near Hollywood could be pretty funny).

The Walking Dead is currently on its fifth season and airing Sunday nights on AMC, with the season finale coming up on March 29.